NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says Hornets starting forward and leading scorer David West has a torn left knee ligament and is out for the season.
An MRI performed on Friday revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the person told The Associated Press Friday on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the diagnosis. West was injured Thursday night in the Hornets' 121-117 overtime win at Utah.
West scored 29 points in the game before being taken off in a wheelchair holding his head and grimacing in pain after going down hard after a dunk that tied the game at 103.
The Hornets, who play at Phoenix Friday night, currently hold the seventh of eight playoff seeds in the Western Conference with nine regular season games remaining.